“We have tested, in matters where ordinary intelligence and knowledge are competent to judge, the logical methods and intellectual honesty of the foremost of those who in the name of science eliminate God and degrade man, taking from human life its highest dignity and deepest hope. Now, if in simple matters we find such confusion, such credulity, such violation of every canon of sound reasoning as we have found here, shall we blindly trust in deeper matters — in those matters which always have and always must perplex the intellect of man?
Let us rather, as I said in the beginning, not too much underrate our own powers in what is concerned with common facts and general relations. While we may not be scientists or philosophers we too are men. And as to things which the telescope cannot resolve, nor the microscope reveal, nor the spectrum analysis throw light on, nor the tests of the chemist discover, it is as irrational to accept blindly the dictum of those who say, "Thus saith science!"”

— Henry George

as it is in things that are the proper field of the natural sciences to bow before the dictum of those who say, "Thus saith religion!"
Conclusion : The Moral of this Examination
A Perplexed Philosopher (1892)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Henry George 61

American economist 1839–1897

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But we have named it God because only this name, for primordial reasons, can stir our hearts profoundly.”

Nikos Kazantzakis book The Saviors of God

Unsourced variant or paraphrase: … We might have given it any name we wished: Abyss, Absolute Darkness, Absolute Light, Matter, Spirit, Ultimate Hope, Ultimate Despair, Silence. But never forget, it is we who give it a name.
The Saviors of God (1923)
Context: We have seen the highest circle of spiraling powers. We have named this circle God. We might have given it any other name we wished: Abyss, Mystery, Absolute Darkness, Absolute Light, Matter, Spirit, Ultimate Hope, Ultimate Despair, Silence.
But we have named it God because only this name, for primordial reasons, can stir our hearts profoundly. And this deeply felt emotion is indispensable if we are to touch, body with body, the dread essence beyond logic.
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Paraphrased variants: It is sound judgment to hope that in the not too distant future we shall be competent to understand so simple a thing as a star.
It is not too much to hope that in the not too distant future we shall be competent to understand so simple a thing as a star.

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William Crookes (1832–1919) British chemist and physicist

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The myth of the free market: the role of the state in a capitalist economy by Mark Anthony Martinez, p. 116 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=M97-cI2V080C&pg=PA116&dq=%22What+matters+this+or+that+reason%3F+What+we+want+is+more+of+the+trade+which+the+Dutch+now+have.%22&hl=en&ei=pePHTKXJDoqOjAfo_vFK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22What%20matters%20this%20or%20that%20reason%3F%20What%20we%20want%20is%20more%20of%20the%20trade%20which%20the%20Dutch%20now%20have.%22&f=false

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Henry George 61

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